Election Section

Durant Hall Remodel Bids Due by July 31

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday July 24, 2008 - 10:00:00 AM

Bidding closes July 31 for a $7.4 million renovation of UC Berkeley’s Durant Hall. 

The structure, home of the university’s East Asian Library from 1951 until the library was relocated in March to the new C. V. Starr East Asian Library building, will be transformed to house administrative offices. 

The steel-frame granite building originally housed the University of California’s law school. It was designed by architect John Galen Howard as Boalt Hall, named for John H. Boalt, a mining engineer turned San Francisco judge, thanks to a $100,000 grant from the jurist’s widow.  

Total cost for the 17,000-square-foot structure when it was built was $163,500. 

The building was renamed in 1951 when the law school moved out, with the titular honor given to Rev. Henry Durant, the university’s first president. 

Howard’s design and the building’s illustrious history have earned the structure both a listing on the National Register of Historic Places and a slot on the city’s list of designated landmarks. 

The university has qualified eight construction companies to bid on the project, with final submissions due by 2 p.m. on the 31st, with the opening of the bids two minutes later.